


How things change.

by dualcolours



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Time-Skip Fic, alt title: how the turns have tabled!, and then turns up in the seperatists, but he isnt a seperatist, he's just fucking shit up from the inside bc, hes tired of the war being a playtoy for the senate disk horse., oc is a former jedi that left the order, there are others in the fic but like. for a paragraph so, yes this is a self insert ty for asking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 03:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20146612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dualcolours/pseuds/dualcolours
Summary: Obi-Wan had a good friend in fellow Padawan, Arden. If only things stayed that simple. Arden leaves after trouble with the council, and Obi-Wan doesn't hear from him again. Years later, deep in the clone wars, things change. People change.





	How things change.

**Author's Note:**

> maybe. Might become more chapters. idk. ive never written this much before in one go. im so gay dudes.  
(feb19 update: just fixing some things)

“I spy with my jedi eyes, something bright orange!”

Obi-Wan didn’t even turn around as he replied, a hint of annoyance in his tone, “First of all, it’s not bright or orange. My hair is still brown, thank you very much. Second, are you really skipping training to be a pest?”

He had been enjoying his peace and quiet in meditating in one of the many Temple gardens. He should have known it wouldn’t have lasted.

“Yes I am! It’s just a history lesson, I’m more than caught up in that class. I read the lesson book already,” Arden replied, not waiting for an invitation to sit, “Besides, it’s been like ages since we caught up! You’ve been busy, Oobi.”

Obi-Wan rubbed his neck, feeling guilty. Despite his childhood friends light tone and fond nickname, there was truth to his words.

“I’m sorry- between Naboo and Anakin and becoming a Knight, I’ve had no time to-”

“Oobi, relax. I was just making a little joke! Look, are you free tonight? My master says that as long as I’m caught up on my studies and practice that I can relax for the day. Come to my dorm with some snacks, let’s have a movie night. Okay? Okay!” Arden didn’t wait for the new knight to refuse, getting to his feet and dusting off his pants, “I gotta scram now- see you tonight!”

Obi-Wan raises a hand in farewell as his friend dashed off, nearly crashing into a master-padawan pair coming to meditate in the gardens. Unable to return to his meditations, he got to his feet as well, deciding that if Arden had already made these plans up, he may as well go along.

\--------------------------------

“But you just became a Knight recently- why would they have done so if they doubted your abilities?” Obi-Wan asked, confused.

“‘Cos they-they’re fucking shit, Obi. Now I’m suddenly too emotional! Too riddled with attachments. They want me to unofficially take another master and get a few more years of off-the record padawanhood and re-take the trails and then! Then I’ll be a real knight.” Arden’s eyes were still red and watery, but his voice had steadied from the stumbling mess that had knocked on Obi-Wans door and asked to be let in.

“We’re supposed to be compassionate and kind, but we’re not supposed to form attachments. We’re supposed to just throw away any emotions we have and replace them all with the force.” Arden rubbed at his eyes and then dropped his hands back into his lap, “We’re fucked, Obi. This little spat? This whole war we’re going into with the Seperatists? That kind of mindset is going to get every last jedi killed.”

“Arden, it’ll be fine,” Obi-Wan tried to soothe the other jedi, but he brushed it away, “The council is just over-reacting, I’m sure they’ll realize that they’re making a mistake with what they want you to do.”

“And then what! Then I go back to pretending like it didn’t happen? I go back to pretending like I don’t feel anything but peace? Like I don’t-” Arden’s voice raised with every word until he was nearly shouting, shoulders trembling. Obi-Wan put his hand on his shoulder, trying to use the Force to surround the distressed jedi with comfort and support.

“Like you don’t.. what?”

“Like I don’t fucking like you, Obi- like thinking of spending time with you is all I spend my free time thinking about. Like everything is fine with the world as long as I’ve got you to work with.”

Arden’s voice was soft, and he refused to meet Obi-Wans’ eyes. At the confession, Obi-Wan stilled- he wasn’t a fool, he knew what love looked and felt like. Satine. Anakin’s interactions with Padmé. How had he missed his best friend being in love with him?

He knew it was because he hadn’t. Because he felt a similar way, and knew admitting it would mean confronting it, and he wasn’t sure he could do that and risk having to give it away.

“Arden..”

“It’s fine, Obi-Wan. I’m sorry to say that to you- I’ll see you later,” Arden’s voice was hollow, and even as Obi-Wan moved to shake himself out of it, to stop the other jedi from leaving, his body wouldn’t respond. The room was silent as Arden made his way to the door, and Obi-Wan finally found his voice.

“Wait! Arden, wait I-”

“Don’t worry about it, Oobi, I’ll see you later.”

Arden offered him a smile and a nickname, but Obi-Wan saw right through it. He saw the way Arden’s eyes watered, the way he had closed himself off and strengthened his force-shields. Arden opened the door and gave Obi-Wan a wave, and then the door shut.

\--------------------------------

“What do you mean, Knight Arden left?” Obi-Wan struggled to keep the emotion out of his voice as he stood before Master Windu. The councilman sighed and gestured the younger jedi out of the hall, into a small room often used for meditation.

“Late last night, he asked to meet with myself, Master Yoda, and a few other council members. He wished to address his.. situation- he was very emotional about it. We asked him to wait until he was calmer to address the matter, but he blew up. He said that the Jedi must adapt to face the oncoming adversity,” Windu explained as he and Obi-Wan took a seat facing each other.

“That that kind of mindset is going to get every last jedi killed,” Obi-Wan echoed and Windu frowned.

“Yes- How did you..?”

“He either came to me before or after he met with you, Master. He was distressed, and told me about the situation with what you were asking him to do, and then just started talking. I tried to help, but he ended up leaving.. If only I had-”

“Be at peace, young Kenobi. Knight Arden had made his choice, I am sure there is nothing that could have been done.”

“Perhaps..” Obi-Wan still sounded unconvinced, and Master Windu leaned forward to place a hand on the younger jedi’s shoulder.

“Obi-Wan, have trust in what I said. It is not the first nor the last time a jedi will have left the order. Now, it’s good that I have run into you- are you free at the moment? The council and I have been meaning to talk with you…”

\--------------------------------

“No casualties..? Cody, are you certain?” Obi-Wan glanced up from the battle report he held.

“Just injuries the medics can fix,” Commander Cody replied, “In fact, I was talking with a few of the shinies- they said it was like the droids avoided any fatal shots.”

“That doesn’t make sense..” Obi-Wan thought aloud, pulling up the battlefield on the projector and pulling up a recreation of the battle. Sure enough, not even the holo-clones lost any in the battle. He turned to his commander, “Weren’t our counts off by a few?”

“Just one, and we found Scatter- he radioed in and some something about a jedi giving him the radio. He’s with Keys now, since Keys said something about him hitting his head pretty hard.”

“Mm. I think I’ll ask him what he meant, you get some rest Cody.” Obi-Wan shut the holofield off and made his way out of the battle-room, interested in the battle’s outcome. Not a single loss, droids that seemed to avoid fatal shots, and a mystery jedi? Seemed like something was afoot.

“Keys? Is it alright if I ask Scatter a few questions?” Obi-Wan asked, standing in the doorway of the medical bay, “Yes, before you ask, I have already been cleared.”

“I wasn’t going to ask, sir. But yeah, he’s just back there- he’s not supposed to be sleeping anyways. Just come get me if he says his head’s hurting,” Keys pointed to one of the last beds in the bay before turning back to the piles of reports on his desk and sighing. Patting the medic on the shoulder as he walked by, Obi-Wan made his way to the bunk where a newer clone sat, picking at a bandage wrapped around his wrist.

“I’m not sure Keys would like to re-wrap that, Scatter. Best to stop picking at it,” Obi-Wan advised as he pulled a chair up the bunk and sat. Keys startled a bit, but stopped picking at the bandage.

“I’m fine, sir. Just bonked my head up a bit,” Scatter started and Obi-Wan held up a hand.

“Don’t worry about that, I’m sure that you’ll heal up fine. I just wanted to ask you about the.. jedi? You said you saw?”

“Oh. Yeah- one second I’m in the fight and I’m near the trees and then the droid shot at the trees, and the next thing I know it’s dark out and I was stuck. A big branch must have fallen on me and I must have hit my head on that or when I fell,” The clone recounted, “I was yellin’ trying to get someone to hear me when I saw someone approaching from the side. They were all in some dark robes like the ones you and General Skywalker wear, so I figured it was a jedi.”

Obi-Wan frowned. As far as he knew, it was only himself, Anakin, and Ashoka assigned here- it very well could have been someone who lived on the planet, but most had evacuated the area.

“What happened then?”

“They hauled the branch off me- didn’t even touch it, so that really made me figure it was a jedi, gave me a basic radio, and said they were sorry they couldn’t stick around. That confused me, but they left before I could ask anything.”

The trooper hesitated, rubbing the side of his head gingerly, “Then I radioed for help, and I’m sure you can fill in the rest.” Obi-Wan nodded, getting to his feet, “Thank you very much, Scatter. I appreciate you sharing this with me.” He moved to leave the bay, getting halfway across the room before Scatter called his name again.

“Sir! I just remembered too- I got confused and called them by your name, and they seemed particularly startled by that. It was then that they gave me the radio.”

“I see. Thank you again, Scatter. Make sure you listen to Keys.” Obi-Wan said as he left, lifting his wrist-comm as soon as the medical bay doors shut.

“Anakin? Are you free for the moment?”

“So this mysterious jedi figure is the cause of our zero-casualty battle?” Anakin replied, crossing his arms, “I knew something was off in the battle- I wonder who it is.”

“Anakin, do you remember any of the jedi that often worked with us before the Clone Wars?” Obi-Wan sat at the table, hands wrapped around a lukewarm mug of tea.

“Sure- we work with most of them now anyways, why do you ask?”

“Do you remember Knight Arden? You were young when he left.”

Obi-Wans voice was soft, and Anakin let out a quiet “Oh.” and sat next to his former master.

“You think..?”

“I do.”

\--------------------------------

“We’ve cleared this floor as well, General,” Cody reported, pulling up a holo of the large buildings layout. They had cleared halfway up and each floor only supported the theory that this is where the main base of the Seperatist front on this world was stationed.

“And the droids are still avoiding fatal attacks? Even the droideka?” Despite their rapid climb through the building, the droids hadn’t suddenly returned to their messy but deadly fire- even the normally disastrous droideka hadn’t posed much of an issue.

“Yes sir- we’ve had a few injuries but-”

Obi-Wans attention was jerked away from Cody’s report by a shadow near a stairwell- it was tall enough to be an adult and too humanoid-shaped to be a droid. He started towards it, picking up the pace as it vanished. At Cody’s sound of alarm, he turned and shouted, “If I’m not back within the hour, take a small group and storm the top- let Anakin finish clearing the building!” and vanished into the stairwell.

He could hear the steps far above him, and he picked up the pace, jumping from stair platform to another, skipping the steps entirely. By the time he reached the top and entered the large room, he couldn’t hear them anymore.

He could see them though.

They were dressed in dark gray robes, a hood over their head. They were faced away, and yet Obi-Wans heart leapt into his throat- they were the right height and he couldn’t help the words that escaped him.

“A...Arden? Is that you?”

The figure tensed, and slowly turned, pulling the hood down as they did. Familiar messy brown hair. The small birthmark near their mouth. Tired green eyes stared back at him from across the room, and Obi-Wan felt as if he had been dunked in ice cold water.

“It’s been a while, Oobi.”

“You.. I..”

“It’s a lot to take in, I know. I promise you I can explain-”

“Explain? Explain! You left so suddenly all those years ago, no messages, nothing for me to know you were safe? And this is how I meet you?” Obi-Wan couldn’t decide if he was furious at how the meeting had come about or relieved that he finally knew. He did know one thing.

“Explain that you turned away from us, from me? For the dark side?” The hurt was evident in his voice. Arden flinched and he leaned against the wall behind him. The room was quiet, only the faint sounds of the battle below disrupting complete silence.

“I wasn’t at first. I just left- but then I saw all the news about the battle, and it just made me so angry. Every time I saw you on the media, it was like you looked more and more exhausted- no one seemed to care about the casualty count. The senate bickered over lives like kids over holiday candy.” Arden said, voice soft enough that Obi-Wan had to move closer to hear.

“I got so angry that I stormed into a seperatist base and demanded to see someone in charge- I can’t believe I didn’t die,” He admitted, “I confronted Dooku and made him battle me. I lost, of course, but he asked me to join him-”

“And you accepted? Dooku is a sith lord, Arden!”

“I know! I’m not stupid, Obi-Wan. But it was a chance I wasn’t going to refuse. It was a chance to at least try to turn things around. The Jedi Order wasn’t going to let me do that, so I took it into my own hands.”

“So you became a sith.” Obi-Wan’s voice was indescribable, and he couldn’t help the movement towards his lightsaber. Arden sighed, moving towards his hip where a silver glint could be seen.

“So I did whatever I could to change things. You can feel it yourself, Obi- I’m not dark.”

He was grateful for that- Arden didn’t radiate the same choking aura that Dooku or Ventress did, but certainly not one as light and airy as he used to.

A lightsaber hum drew Obi-Wan out of his thoughts and he stared at the orange blade that Arden wielded.

“I left mine in the temple, so he gave me a new one. The red sickened me, but slowly over time and meditation, it started changing. I think.. I think the crystal is healing,” Arden held it at his side, the orange glowing against the dark robes, “I take it as assurance that I’m not dark, even if I’m not light anymore.”

Obi-Wan pulled out his own blade, the blue glow a comforting sight. They stood like that for several moments, Obi-Wan taking the first steps forward.

“It’s not too late to come back with me, Arden. I’m sure the council could understand that the dark side pulled you away- I’d vouch for you.” He pleaded, holding out a hand for his old friend to take.

“Of course you’d be a member of the council- I’m glad for that. Maybe you could talk some sense into them, but I can’t come back. I won’t.” Arden replied, his voice gentle.

“If I defeat you, you’ll have no choice,” Obi-Wan responded, a hint of desperation in his voice, discarding his robe and getting into a battle stance. Arden shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

“You always were a flirt,” He discarded his own robe and got ready for the eventual attack. They moved in a slow circle for several minutes, neither wanting to take a first step. It wasn’t until an explosion made Arden glance down, a worried look on his face, that Obi-Wan took the first move.

Arden brought his lightsaber up to deflect the attack, only defending against Obi-Wans attacks. He seemed incapable of attacking back, and Obi-Wan used that to his advantage, pushing his old friend back into a corner. The lightsabers clashed once again, the orange contrasting against the blue, both wielders struggling against each other.

Obi-Wan managed to flick Arden’s lightsaber away, pinning the shorter man against the wall behind him.

“Please, Arden.”

He looked away, but offered to resistance as Obi-Wan gently moved his face back to meet Obi-wan, leaning his forehead against the others.

“Come back with me.”

Arden could see the sadness in Obi-Wans eyes, and he knew his own held a similar look. Rather than answer, he put his arms on Obi-Wans shoulders and pressed close, gently pressing a kiss to his lips. Obi-Wan wrapped an arm around his old friend, pressing back in the kiss. Arden pulled away after a few moments, a miserable look on his face.

“I’m sorry, Oobi.”

The old nickname made Obi-Wan hopeful, but the way he said it confused him. He heard a click and looked to the side, and suddenly it made sense.

Arden had a pair of force-cuffs- one was around a pipe on the wall, and the other? The other was looped around Obi-Wans wrist. He looked back up at his friend, but Arden wouldn’t meet his eyes.

The sound of bashing against a door caught his attention, and Obi-Wan realized he must have gone over the time limit he had given Cody. The jedi reached out, but Arden had already crossed the room and picked up his lightsaber.

“Arden! Please- don’t do this. Please.” Obi-Wan begged, tears pricking at his eyes while he yanked at the cuffs.

“I’m sorry, Oobi. I’ll see you again some time I’m sure. I’ve got to go.” Arden wouldn’t meet his eyes as he made his way to a second door, only raising his head as he pulled the door open.

In that moment, the door was bashed down and Commander Cody stormed in, flanked by two other 212th.

“Stop right there!” Cody ordered at the same time that Obi-Wan screamed across the room, “Arden!” The man in question met Obi-Wans eyes one last time before vanishing into the hidden hallway.

“You two, after him. I’ve got the general,” Cody ordered, but before they could get halfway across the room Obi-Wan called them to a stop.

“It’s not worth it, Cody. Please, just free me so we can return to the ship.” Despite the commander having the helmet obscure his face, Obi-Wan was sure that he looked concerned.

“If you say so sir.”

\--------------------------------

“Are you going to be alright, Obi-Wan?”

Anakin’s voice was softer than usual, the two sat at a table in Obi-Wans quarters. Cody returned with a few mugs of tea and took a seat as well.

“If I may ask sir, who was that?”

Obi-Wan curled his hands around the mug, voice quiet as he began.

“When I was a padawan, one of my closest friends…”

**Author's Note:**

> shoutout to my homies on tumblr, fandom-trash224 and kamalsaystransrights and projectshad0w and everyone else who validates my sudden desire for obi-wan to be my boyfriend (except this time i kept writing little bs posts abt it)


End file.
